FIPB Tesco nod to attract more cos in India: Shoppers Stop

Hailing government's decision to approve Tesco's proposal to pick up stake in Trent 's hypermarket subsidiary , Govind Srikhande, MD, Shoppers Stop says the clearance will allow many more players to tie-up with the existing retail operator as against the desire to set up only Greenfield projects earlier.

Below is the verbatim transcript of his interview on CNBC-TV18

Q: This decision and the fact that a foreign retail investment can go directly into the frontend store means that valuations of all the organised retail stores setup by Indian-own chains will go up, is that the first logical outcome?

A: I don't want to comment on valuations but if you are allowing Brownfield projects, there are more options for players to tie-up with local Indian players.

Till date no one was allowed to take up a stake in an existing company. They wanted only Greenfield projects to be setup. This particular clearance clearly shows that you can now have a tie-up with an existing retail operator and that means that many more players can actually come in and also tie-in with local players.

Q: Give us a sense of the international climate in terms of the appetite for investment in India? Tesco had publicly virtually said that there was immense pressure from the Indian government to invest in India and we have seen Wal-Mart walk away from what was considered and called by Wal-Mart a major emerging market in India. Given all that, is this a reasonable expectation that foreign retailers will look at the Indian market more keenly?

A: Yes definitely. If you look around the world globally retail markets aren't really growing. In India retail markets continue to grow even now. Secondly, the depth of Indian market is still very large. Currently at USD 500 billion, in the next 5 years it will double or may quadruple in about 12 years or 14 years of time. So, the market has a long way to go.

There is ample opportunity for a player to come in and get a decent market share in the growing market conditions. It is a welcome sign for any international player to look at this opportunity and to reconsider their entry plan for India.

Q: We know that Tesco is going to invest in stores in Maharashtra and Karnataka but there are several states that have declared their opposition to allowing multi-brand foreign investors including Delhi's latest government. Given that, is political risk and lack of some other kinds of regulatory clarity still an issue for investors?

A: We always held on to one opinion about India that entering India is like entering Europe. If you are entering one state at a time you would be able to get a right foothold in India. You can't make a pan-India plan of entering all the 29 states.

As of date there are about 11 states that are willing to allow multi-brand retail to enter. Even if you start with three or four of them and launch your programme that is fine enough. Political risk is always there but over a period of time consensus about multi-brand retails benefit should be built in.

It would require some amount of convincing by both the sides that what is the right way to take ahead multi-brand retail. The light of the day would be right reasoning.

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'Cooper can claim over 4 times of $112.5 m break fee'

Speaking on the ongoing litigation with Apollo Tyres , Cooper Tire chairman, CEO and President Roy Armes said the company had never received a proposal from Apollo to reduce the share prices that included committed financing or that they did not come with an unreasonable risk for the company or the stockholders.

Cooper CFO Brad Hughes said that Apollo breached the merger agreement and they will take legal action, including pursuing damages.

Cooper also said it did not believe that it will have to pay USD 50 million break fee that it was liable for (these are the basic break fees put down in the merger agreement if either party walks away. Cooper was to pay USD 50 million if it walked away from the deal).

"We haven't walked away, we don't believe we owe Apollo USD 50 million break fee," the company said.

It, however, said that it will pursue the USD 112.5 million break fee that Apollo owes it, along with other damages. Cooper claimed the deal was terminated because Apollo was no longer or it was clear that Apollo was not going to close the transaction and that banks were not going to finance the transaction.

Amit Tandon, Founder & MD Institutional Investor Advisory Services (IIAS), said: "It does not come as a surprise for us. When we said the deal wasn't good for the investors, to a large extent we were also echoing the view of a large set of institutional investors. A lot investors would surely be relieved that the deal has not gone ahead."

Speaking on the legal liablity Apollo may face, Hitesh Jain, ALMT Legal, said: "In the US, damages runs into millions. People can claim over 4-5 times over the break fee to intimidate the other party, whether you will get that amount realistically that's a different thing. I won't be surprised if Cooper claims over 4 times of the $112.5 million break-up fee."

Rohan Shah, Managing Partner, Eco Laws Practice (ELP) said that its very tough to estimate the amount of damages that Cooper can claim from Apollo apart from the $112.5 million. "I don't think there will be any cap in terms of what they claim. The issue is given the nature of the clause what will support them in a claim beyond the $112.5 million and what is the level of proof that they will have to meet. Because somewhere they will have to make out a case of malafide or fraud, sometheing in the nature of giving themselves the ability to reach a mutiple of what is already mentioned."

Apollo Tyres stock price

On December 30, 2013, Apollo Tyres closed at Rs 101.30, up Rs 0.55, or 0.55 percent. The 52-week high of the share was Rs 103.90 and the 52-week low was Rs 54.60.

The company's trailing 12-month (TTM) EPS was at Rs 7.24 per share as per the quarter ended September 2013. The stock's price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio was 13.99. The latest book value of the company is Rs 46.24 per share. At current value, the price-to-book value of the company is 2.19.

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Centre's help sought to boost Goa economy after mining ban

The Goa Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) has requested the central government to make special provisions to give a boost to the state economy in the wake of ban on mining.

The GCCI delegation called on Sumit Bose, the newly appointed Union Finance Secretary, to brief him about the current economic situation in the state.

During the visit, GCCI outlined the adverse impact of ban on mining on the state's economy as well as revenues.

The iron ore exports in the state had been stopped last year after the Supreme Court took cognizance of illegal mining in Goa, followed by an in-depth probe by Justice M B Shah commission.

GCCI president Narayan Bandekar, who led the delegation, said the chamber requested the Centre to make special provisions to give a boost to the Goan economy and suggested tax exemptions under 80-IB be extended for new units to be set up in Goa, particularly in backward 'talukas'.

The chamber also suggested removal of inverted duty structure and recommended virtual SEZ status for specific industries like IT, electronics and pharma.

GCCI recommended extension of tax holiday under Section 80-ID for tourism infrastructure projects such as golf courses, theme parks, amusement parks and others to give a boost to the tourism industry.

While requesting the Finance Secretary to direct the banks to be more sympathetic to mining-related borrowers such as truck, barge and machinery owners by offering them some relief till the mining activity resumes again.

The chamber also requested for concessions for mining service providers who have some service tax liabilities but are not able to discharge as they have not been receiving payments of the bills raised by them.

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CII Business Outlook shows signs of economic turnaround

Indicating signs of economic revival, the CII Business Confidence Index (BCI) rose sharply to 54.9 during the October-December period of 2013-14 fiscal, from 45.7 in the previous quarter.

"With positive signals emanating from the global economy, which finds a resonance in our improved export performance and is causing our current account deficit (CAD) to decline, we believe that the slowdown in the domestic economy may have bottomed out in the second quarter and the trend could reverse henceforth," CII Director General Chandrajit Banerjee said.

The pick-up in BCI for the current quarter comes as a major relief for the economy which has been braving the onslaught of the slowdown for the last several quarters and awaiting the return of growth, the survey said.

However, it also strikes a note of caution saying that the downside risks to growth have still not abated and supply- side bottlenecks continue to pose a problem.

It said that despite the likelihood that subsidies will cross the budgeted target by a wide margin, and the impending general elections pose upside risk to government expenditure, as many as 53 per cent of the survey respondents expect fiscal deficit to remain below 5 per cent mark, broadly in line with the government's target.

However, Banerjee cautioned: "We need to be careful about the upward risk to fiscal deficit amid the scenario of weak economic growth translating into sluggish tax collection and growing chances of disinvestment proceeds falling well short of target."

Besides, the top five concerns in order of severity to most firms which participated in the survey were: domestic economic and political instability, slackening consumer demand, high level of corruption, persistent high inflation and risk from exchange rate volatility.

A majority of the respondents (42 per cent) felt that GDP growth in the current fiscal would settle in the range of 4.5 to 5 per cent, whereas only 28 per cent expected it to be in the vicinity of 5 to 5.5 per cent.

Moreover, 63 per cent of the respondents expect CAD to settle in a range of 3.5-5 per cent of GDP in 2013-14 and only 7 per cent expect it to fall below 3.5 per cent in the current fiscal.

High inflation also poses downside risk to growth, as 41 per cent respondents expected inflation to cross 7 per cent mark during the current fiscal.

The survey reveals that 58 per cent of the respondents expect an increase in their sales in the third quarter of 2013-14, much higher than 45 per cent who saw the same during the previous quarter.

Brighter prospects were also observed for exports, as 53 per cent of firms expected their exports to increase in the current quarter, up from 49 per cent in the previous quarter.

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Vineet Nayar steps down from HCL Tech Board

Dec 27, 2013, 08.00 PM IST

Nayar, who has been a Director of the company since 2008, will continue to engage with HCL Technologies and HCL Corporation as a Senior Advisor, HCL Technologies said in a statement.

Tags  HCL Tech

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Vineet Nayar steps down from HCL Tech Board

Nayar, who has been a Director of the company since 2008, will continue to engage with HCL Technologies and HCL Corporation as a Senior Advisor, HCL Technologies said in a statement.

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Vineet Nayar steps down from HCL Tech Board

Nayar, who has been a Director of the company since 2008, will continue to engage with HCL Technologies and HCL Corporation as a Senior Advisor, HCL Technologies said in a statement.

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IT industry veteran Vineet Nayar today stepped down from the board of country's fourth largest software services firm, HCL Technologies , to devote more time to his foundation. Nayar, who has been a Director of the company since 2008, will continue to engage with HCL Technologies and HCL Corporation as a Senior Advisor, HCL Technologies said in a statement.

He will advise HCL Corporation on key strategic issues and work with the Board of HCL Technologies on initiatives like driving a high performance culture amongst senior managers and new strategies for growth.

"Vineet has been a friend and a colleague for over two decades now. His bold ideas and passion for the organisation, has inspired many others to think and dream big. "His contribution to HCL and the Board has been a benchmark for others to follow and we all are very proud of
him," HCL Technologies Chief Strategy Officer and Chairman Shiv Nadar said.

More than two decades after joining HCL Technologies, Nayar stepped down from the post of CEO in January this year to make way for the next generation of leaders to steer the company.

He, however, continued to work as Vice-Chairman and Joint Managing Director of the company.

"I am grateful to Shiv, Board Members and the employees of HCL Technologies, for giving me an opportunity to dream, learn, explore and experiment along with them. There are very few organisations where one could rise up the ranks and become the CEO and Vice Chairman," Nayar said.

Nayar had sold his entire stock holding in HCL Technologies for about Rs 134 crore in June 2012 and used the money for his non-profit organisation Sampark.

"As I pursue my dream, of creating a 'Million Smiles' through Sampark Foundation, I carry with me goodwill, best wishes and lots of learning," he said. Nayar had joined HCL in 1985 after getting his MBA from XLRI. He founded Comnet, where he incubated the remote infrastructure management (RIM) industry in 1993.

He is known for his 'employees first, customers second' philosophy, which became a core of HCL Technologies' policies and practices.

In 2005, Nayar became President of the company and it was under his leadership that the company expanded to become an USD 4 billion entity employing over 87,000 people across the globe.

HCL Tech stock price

On December 27, 2013, HCL Technologies closed at Rs 1249.30, up Rs 3.10, or 0.25 percent. The 52-week high of the share was Rs 1261.40 and the 52-week low was Rs 615.30.

The company's trailing 12-month (TTM) EPS was at Rs 61.47 per share as per the quarter ended September 2013. The stock's price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio was 20.32. The latest book value of the company is Rs 146.43 per share. At current value, the price-to-book value of the company is 8.53.

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PCMA opposes ban on PET packaging of drugs

PET Container Manufacturers Association (PCMA) has opposed the recommendations of Union Health Ministry's Drug Technical Advisory Board (DTAB) demanding ban on use of PET containers for the packaging of pharmaceutical products.

The DTAB recommendations to ban packaging of pharmaceutical products in PET container on ground that PET packaging contaminates the medicine with chemicals is unjust and baseless, PCMA President Biswajit Ghosh said in a statement here today.

"The recommendation demonstrates lack of knowledge about the impact of PET packaging on pharmaceutical products. PCMA feels that DTAB, while recommending the ban has totally ignored the fact that PET is legally accepted packaging material globally," the release said.

PCMA has requested the Ministry to consider the fact that US pharmacopeia, US Food & Drug Administration, Indian pharmacopeia, Bureau of Indian Standards, and many other regulatory bodies in the world have acknowledged adequate safety standards for PET bottles.

Further, each pharmaceutical company does its own stability tests conforming to standards drawn by competent authorities before launching product their in any packaging. PET bottles meet all parameters defined in the standards, it said.

PCMA says the recommendation is based on "incomplete knowledge" and may harm general consumer interests.

It has appealed the Ministry and concerned departments to consider complete gamut of regulatory practices before arriving at any conclusion. The appeal is based on the fact that very recently as many as six such public Interest Litigations (PlL) were dismissed by various High Courts across the country and finally even the Supreme Court had squashed the PIL challenging use of PET bottles.

"It is really unfortunate that despite PET being well accepted as a packaging material for pharmaceutical products in the countries having stringent standards globally, DTAB has recommended a ban. We sincerely urge the Ministry to consider complete spectrum of regulatory practices before arriving to any conclusion." PCMA General Secretary Suresh Singhat said.

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Vineet Nayar steps down from HCL Tech Board

IT industry veteran Vineet Nayar today stepped down from the board of country's fourth largest software services firm, HCL Technologies , to devote more time to his foundation. Nayar, who has been a Director of the company since 2008, will continue to engage with HCL Technologies and HCL Corporation as a Senior Advisor, HCL Technologies said in a statement.

He will advise HCL Corporation on key strategic issues and work with the Board of HCL Technologies on initiatives like driving a high performance culture amongst senior managers and new strategies for growth.

"Vineet has been a friend and a colleague for over two decades now. His bold ideas and passion for the organisation, has inspired many others to think and dream big. "His contribution to HCL and the Board has been a benchmark for others to follow and we all are very proud of
him," HCL Technologies Chief Strategy Officer and Chairman Shiv Nadar said.

More than two decades after joining HCL Technologies, Nayar stepped down from the post of CEO in January this year to make way for the next generation of leaders to steer the company.

He, however, continued to work as Vice-Chairman and Joint Managing Director of the company.

"I am grateful to Shiv, Board Members and the employees of HCL Technologies, for giving me an opportunity to dream, learn, explore and experiment along with them. There are very few organisations where one could rise up the ranks and become the CEO and Vice Chairman," Nayar said.

Nayar had sold his entire stock holding in HCL Technologies for about Rs 134 crore in June 2012 and used the money for his non-profit organisation Sampark.

"As I pursue my dream, of creating a 'Million Smiles' through Sampark Foundation, I carry with me goodwill, best wishes and lots of learning," he said. Nayar had joined HCL in 1985 after getting his MBA from XLRI. He founded Comnet, where he incubated the remote infrastructure management (RIM) industry in 1993.

He is known for his 'employees first, customers second' philosophy, which became a core of HCL Technologies' policies and practices.

In 2005, Nayar became President of the company and it was under his leadership that the company expanded to become an USD 4 billion entity employing over 87,000 people across the globe.

HCL Tech stock price

On December 27, 2013, HCL Technologies closed at Rs 1249.30, up Rs 3.10, or 0.25 percent. The 52-week high of the share was Rs 1261.40 and the 52-week low was Rs 615.30.

The company's trailing 12-month (TTM) EPS was at Rs 61.47 per share as per the quarter ended September 2013. The stock's price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio was 20.32. The latest book value of the company is Rs 146.43 per share. At current value, the price-to-book value of the company is 8.53.

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CCI okays United Spirits deal to sell Tamil Nadu distillery

Fair trade watchdog CCI has cleared Vijay Mallya-led United Spirits ' proposed sale of a distillery in Tamil Nadu to Enrica Enterprises, as the deal does not raise adverse competition concerns.

The deal involves hiving off entire operations at the unit of United Spirits (USL) that manufactures Indian Made Foreign Spirits (IMFS) to Enrica "by way of slump sale on a going concern basis". The unit is located at Poonamallee, Chennai.

Post-deal, Enrica would make certain IMFS brands of United Spirits using technology and know-how and under the trademark of the Vijay Mallya firm.

In an order dated December 26, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) said "the proposed combination is not likely to have an appreciable adverse effect on competition in India and therefore, the Commission hereby approves the proposed combination under...the (Competition) Act".

According to the Commission, the manufacture and sale of IMFS in Tamil Nadu "is highly regulated by the Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation, which has the exclusive privilege of conducting trade in IMFS in Tamil Nadu".

"There is also the presence of a number of manufacturers of IMFS in Tamil Nadu and as already noted, EEPL (Enrica Enterprises Private Ltd) and its promoters are currently not engaged in the business of IMFS in the state of Tamil Nadu," the Commission added.

Bangalore-based USL is engaged in the manufacture and sale of IMFS, while Enrica is an unlisted firm incorporated under the laws of India and has its registered office in Chennai and is presently not carrying out any business operations.

As per the details in the order, the promoters of Enrica Enterprises -- Spurthi Holdings, Viki Investments and Properties, Sree Shyam Sayi Investments and Traders – are planning to enter into the business of manufacturing IMFS by way of the proposed deal.

The Commission had received the notice from USL on December 6, 2013, seeking approval for the proposed deal.

On November 8, the USL board had approved the transfer of the unit to Enrica.

United Spirits stock price

On December 27, 2013, United Spirits closed at Rs 2536.90, up Rs 10.60, or 0.42 percent. The 52-week high of the share was Rs 2815.00 and the 52-week low was Rs 1708.20.

The company's trailing 12-month (TTM) EPS was at Rs 24.01 per share as per the quarter ended September 2013. The stock's price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio was 105.66. The latest book value of the company is Rs 440.83 per share. At current value, the price-to-book value of the company is 5.75.

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Sahara Pariwar to have 30,000 Sahara 'Q shops' by 2016

Sahara Q, the FMCG division of Sahara India Pariwar, as part of expansion plans has proposed to increase number of its outlets to 30,000 by 2016-end. Currently, the company has 1,100 exclusive brand outlets in 14 states and has distributorships in 29 States, Sahara India Pariwar said in a statement.

Sahara Q manufactures and sells 895 products in categories of staple, processed food, water and beverages, home care, personal care, home appliances and kitchenware, it said.

In Tamil Nadu, the company said it plans to have 21 outlets by March 2014, 550 by March 2015 and by March 2016, the number of stores would reach to 1,900 outlets, it said. The number of distributors in the state would also be increased to 200 from the existing 131. It also plans to have 55 Sahara Quality Mobile shop by March 2014, the statement said.

Nationwide, the company plans to have 500 Quality Mobile Shops by March 2014 from the existing 181 outlets, it said.

As part of augmenting the expansion plans, the company would add newer manufacturing facilities in Tamil Nadu, it said, adding the company also plans to adopt "contract farming" in the state.

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Government stake in Andhra Bank goes up by over 2%

Dec 26, 2013, 10.16 PM IST

According to a filing with stock exchanges today, the city-headquartered lender said it has allotted 3,00,34,539 equity shares on preferential basis to the government.

Tags  Andhra Bank, public lender, General or Shareholder Meeting, Extraordinary General Meeting

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Government stake in Andhra Bank goes up by over 2%

According to a filing with stock exchanges today, the city-headquartered lender said it has allotted 3,00,34,539 equity shares on preferential basis to the government.

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Government stake in Andhra Bank goes up by over 2%

According to a filing with stock exchanges today, the city-headquartered lender said it has allotted 3,00,34,539 equity shares on preferential basis to the government.

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Government's shareholding in public lender  Andhra Bank has gone up by 2.14 percent after the latest round of capital infusion.

According to a filing with stock exchanges today, the city-headquartered lender said it has allotted 3,00,34,539 equity shares on preferential basis to the government. The government's shareholding in the bank now stood at 60.14 percent from the earlier 58 percent, the filing said.

Also read: No room for SUUTI stake sale post FDI cap hike in Axis Bank  

In an earlier filing, the bank said the Extraordinary General Meeting of the shareholders held on December 19 passed a special resolution to allot shares at Rs 66.59 apiece (including a premium of Rs 56.59 per share) in return for Rs 200-crore additional capital infusion.

Shares of Andhra Bank settled at Rs 63, up 0.72 percent over the previous close, on BSE whose benchmark Sensex gained 0.20 percent to 21,074.59 today. The government infused around Rs 200 crore on December 20 towards issuance and allotment of equity shares on preferential basis, Andhra Bank said on Monday.

Andhra Bank stock price

On December 26, 2013, Andhra Bank closed at Rs 63.00, up Rs 0.45, or 0.72 percent. The 52-week high of the share was Rs 130.00 and the 52-week low was Rs 47.30.

The company's trailing 12-month (TTM) EPS was at Rs 16.15 per share as per the quarter ended September 2013. The stock's price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio was 3.9. The latest book value of the company is Rs 150.85 per share. At current value, the price-to-book value of the company is 0.42.

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Bajaj Auto promoter acquires shares worth Rs 60 cr

Bajaj Auto Employees Welfare Fund, a promoter entity of Bajaj Auto, today acquired over three lakh shares of the two wheeler major for nearly Rs 60 crore through open market trade.

As per the block deal information available with the BSE, Bajaj Auto Employees Welfare Fund bought 3,07,120 shares of Bajaj Auto from various entities including the company's promoters -- Bajaj Sevashram and Jamnalal Sons.

Shares of  Bajaj Auto were purchased at an average price of Rs 1,946 apiece valuing the transaction at Rs 59.76 crore.

At the end of July-September quarter, the Fundheld 18.29 lakh shares of Bajaj Auto amounting to 0.63 per cent stake.

Jamnalal Sons and Bajaj Sevashram held 8.97 per cent and 1.56 per cent respectively.

Bajaj Auto had reported a decline of 14.69 per cent in motorcycle sales at 2,78,703 units last month.

It had sold 3,26,727 units in November last year.

In the commercial vehicles category, the company said its sales stood at 31,888 units as against 45,566 units in November last year, a decline of 30 per cent.

Bajaj Auto scrip was up 1.91 per cent, settling at Rs 1,981.35, on the BSE.

Bajaj Auto stock price

On December 24, 2013, Bajaj Auto closed at Rs 1990.10, up Rs 45.85, or 2.36 percent. The 52-week high of the share was Rs 2228.95 and the 52-week low was Rs 1657.50.

The company's trailing 12-month (TTM) EPS was at Rs 109.18 per share as per the quarter ended September 2013. The stock's price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio was 18.23. The latest book value of the company is Rs 273.08 per share. At current value, the price-to-book value of the company is 7.29.

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Indian malls lose sheen, 40 downed shutters in last 2 years

Tesco's entry into multi-brand retail is expected to change fortunes of the sector. But the question is should one invest in high streets or malls?

Indians continue to buy properties in London and Dubai despite the RBI ban on repatriating funds for overseas property purchases.

Also Read: Tesco says India investment based on biz considerations

Earlier this week the world's third largest retailer Tesco announced it is entering multi-brand retail in India in an equal partnership with Trent from the house of Tatas. The British retail giant is planning an initial investment of USD 110 million and will first open its shutters in Karnataka and Maharashtra.

Tesco is the first to enter multi-brand retail despite the government liberalising the FDI regime 15 months back in September 2012 and Tesco's entry is on the back of a very important relaxation made by the Indian government and one that is expected to finally open FDI floodgates; for retailers are now permitted to buy up to 51 percent in existing stores of domestic retailers.

So Tesco along with Trent will operate in India through a chain of stores like Star Bazaar, Star Market and Star Daily. Carrefour, the world's second-largest retailer, is expected to be the next giant to announce its entry into Indian multi-brand retail and many other Indian retailers are expected to go shopping for new foreign partners.

However, India's glitzy malls are quickly losing their sheen - poor revenue models, exorbitant rentals, lack of specialty outlets, low-brand pull and last but not the least, sheer mismanagement, all of this can be blamed for the dire state of the malls. Vacancy levels are alarmingly high, prompting developers to defer mall openings.

As many as 40 malls have downed their shutters in the last two years. Cushman & Wakefield says the opening of 18 malls have been deferred in 2013, 10 of which are housed in the National Capital Region (NCR). That doesn't come as a surprise considering NCR's mall vacancy is highest in the country at a staggering 55 percent. Mumbai is a close second with 52 percent vacancy, followed by Ahmedabad and Chennai.

Sanjay Dutt, Executive MD, Cushman & Wakefield - South Asia, says: "The first generation shopping centers were not right sized, not planned properly, there are exceptions, I am not saying all shopping centers got built like that, but mostly they never got sized properly, not the right tenant mix, not the right location and developers did not put in a core management team to manage it properly."

The eight year old Atria Mall in Mumbai's prime Worli is the latest mall to close down business. The promoters have put this mall on the block and hope to raise about Rs 1,000 crore from the exercise.

Other failed malls include Navi Mumbai's Full Stop Mall, Gold City Mall in Vashi, Mumbai's Palm Beach Galleria Mall, Star City Mall in Delhi's Mayur Vihar, and Spencer's Plaza down south in Chennai.

Dutt says: "Blackstone has built up a portfolio of 25-30 million square feet of office, why not shopping centre? They would love to build a shopping centre, but there is just no quality shopping centre and it's not a FDI compliant investment product from their point of view, IT parks are. So if today somebody wants to build a shopping center, they do not have access to capital, land is expensive, cash flow situation is quite severe, so every developer wants to build only housing."

It is pretty clear; we have an oversupply of malls. Global retail giants are awaiting political stability and an insight into BJP's stance on FDI and multi-brand retail in case it comes to power in 2014, therefore committing big bucks is not helping mall developers. But high streets on the other hand continue to do well. An oversupply of malls has not helped and the political logjams are only making it worse. Foreign retailers likes Tesco and Carrefour fancying to exploit India's demographic may have to wait a while for political parties like the BJP and AAP that are intending to lead at coalition at the Centre, causing a dampener for international retail majors.

Dutt adds: "Commitment from global players like Walmart, Carrefour, Tesco, Unico, H&M are game changers for Indian real estate and retail sectors. The reason I say that is we think we are disturbing the peace of the high street or the unorganised sector. In my opinion these corporates bring expertise which has been developed over a very long period of decades, logistic supplies, software solutions, training and skill development of people required to run a profitable and well managed business which nobody is able to build in the country."

Analysis says that Indian malls today are operating at investment minus 20 percent and there is no room for correction in shopping centre rentals as majority have moved to revenue share model. So it is only infusion of foreign direct investment that will bolster mall revenues and with many foreign retailers queuing up it will indeed be a saviour.

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Bajaj Auto promoter acquires shares worth Rs 60 cr

Bajaj Auto Employees Welfare Fund, a promoter entity of Bajaj Auto, today acquired over three lakh shares of the two wheeler major for nearly Rs 60 crore through open market trade.

As per the block deal information available with the BSE, Bajaj Auto Employees Welfare Fund bought 3,07,120 shares of Bajaj Auto from various entities including the company's promoters -- Bajaj Sevashram and Jamnalal Sons.

Shares of  Bajaj Auto were purchased at an average price of Rs 1,946 apiece valuing the transaction at Rs 59.76 crore.

At the end of July-September quarter, the Fundheld 18.29 lakh shares of Bajaj Auto amounting to 0.63 per cent stake.

Jamnalal Sons and Bajaj Sevashram held 8.97 per cent and 1.56 per cent respectively.

Bajaj Auto had reported a decline of 14.69 per cent in motorcycle sales at 2,78,703 units last month.

It had sold 3,26,727 units in November last year.

In the commercial vehicles category, the company said its sales stood at 31,888 units as against 45,566 units in November last year, a decline of 30 per cent.

Bajaj Auto scrip was up 1.91 per cent, settling at Rs 1,981.35, on the BSE.

Bajaj Auto stock price

On December 24, 2013, Bajaj Auto closed at Rs 1990.10, up Rs 45.85, or 2.36 percent. The 52-week high of the share was Rs 2228.95 and the 52-week low was Rs 1657.50.

The company's trailing 12-month (TTM) EPS was at Rs 109.18 per share as per the quarter ended September 2013. The stock's price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio was 18.23. The latest book value of the company is Rs 273.08 per share. At current value, the price-to-book value of the company is 7.29.

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Indian malls lose sheen, 40 downed shutters in last 2 years

Tesco's entry into multi-brand retail is expected to change fortunes of the sector. But the question is should one invest in high streets or malls?

Indians continue to buy properties in London and Dubai despite the RBI ban on repatriating funds for overseas property purchases.

Also Read: Tesco says India investment based on biz considerations

Earlier this week the world's third largest retailer Tesco announced it is entering multi-brand retail in India in an equal partnership with Trent from the house of Tatas. The British retail giant is planning an initial investment of USD 110 million and will first open its shutters in Karnataka and Maharashtra.

Tesco is the first to enter multi-brand retail despite the government liberalising the FDI regime 15 months back in September 2012 and Tesco's entry is on the back of a very important relaxation made by the Indian government and one that is expected to finally open FDI floodgates; for retailers are now permitted to buy up to 51 percent in existing stores of domestic retailers.

So Tesco along with Trent will operate in India through a chain of stores like Star Bazaar, Star Market and Star Daily. Carrefour, the world's second-largest retailer, is expected to be the next giant to announce its entry into Indian multi-brand retail and many other Indian retailers are expected to go shopping for new foreign partners.

However, India's glitzy malls are quickly losing their sheen - poor revenue models, exorbitant rentals, lack of specialty outlets, low-brand pull and last but not the least, sheer mismanagement, all of this can be blamed for the dire state of the malls. Vacancy levels are alarmingly high, prompting developers to defer mall openings.

As many as 40 malls have downed their shutters in the last two years. Cushman & Wakefield says the opening of 18 malls have been deferred in 2013, 10 of which are housed in the National Capital Region (NCR). That doesn't come as a surprise considering NCR's mall vacancy is highest in the country at a staggering 55 percent. Mumbai is a close second with 52 percent vacancy, followed by Ahmedabad and Chennai.

Sanjay Dutt, Executive MD, Cushman & Wakefield - South Asia, says: "The first generation shopping centers were not right sized, not planned properly, there are exceptions, I am not saying all shopping centers got built like that, but mostly they never got sized properly, not the right tenant mix, not the right location and developers did not put in a core management team to manage it properly."

The eight year old Atria Mall in Mumbai's prime Worli is the latest mall to close down business. The promoters have put this mall on the block and hope to raise about Rs 1,000 crore from the exercise.

Other failed malls include Navi Mumbai's Full Stop Mall, Gold City Mall in Vashi, Mumbai's Palm Beach Galleria Mall, Star City Mall in Delhi's Mayur Vihar, and Spencer's Plaza down south in Chennai.

Dutt says: "Blackstone has built up a portfolio of 25-30 million square feet of office, why not shopping centre? They would love to build a shopping centre, but there is just no quality shopping centre and it's not a FDI compliant investment product from their point of view, IT parks are. So if today somebody wants to build a shopping center, they do not have access to capital, land is expensive, cash flow situation is quite severe, so every developer wants to build only housing."

It is pretty clear; we have an oversupply of malls. Global retail giants are awaiting political stability and an insight into BJP's stance on FDI and multi-brand retail in case it comes to power in 2014, therefore committing big bucks is not helping mall developers. But high streets on the other hand continue to do well. An oversupply of malls has not helped and the political logjams are only making it worse. Foreign retailers likes Tesco and Carrefour fancying to exploit India's demographic may have to wait a while for political parties like the BJP and AAP that are intending to lead at coalition at the Centre, causing a dampener for international retail majors.

Dutt adds: "Commitment from global players like Walmart, Carrefour, Tesco, Unico, H&M are game changers for Indian real estate and retail sectors. The reason I say that is we think we are disturbing the peace of the high street or the unorganised sector. In my opinion these corporates bring expertise which has been developed over a very long period of decades, logistic supplies, software solutions, training and skill development of people required to run a profitable and well managed business which nobody is able to build in the country."

Analysis says that Indian malls today are operating at investment minus 20 percent and there is no room for correction in shopping centre rentals as majority have moved to revenue share model. So it is only infusion of foreign direct investment that will bolster mall revenues and with many foreign retailers queuing up it will indeed be a saviour.

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GMR Infra sells entire 40% stake in Istanbul airport

After Maldives,  GMR now flies out of Turkey. The company sold its entire 40 percent stake in the Istanbul airport to Malaysian airport for 225 million euros.

Madhu Terdal, Group CFO, GMR Infra says the deal has not been concluded yet. It is in the RoFR process. As and when the deal gets completed, a substantial part of the amount will be used to pare corporate debt, he says.

Below is the verbatim transcript of Madhu Terdal's interview on CNBC-TV18

Q: Can you tell us how this 225 million euros will be used? What it is going to mean for your balance sheet, are you happy with the valuations?

A: The deal has not been concluded. We have just informed the stock exchanges that we are in the RoFR process and the next step where the Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) has exercised its RoFR notice has been done and we are evaluating the exercise of the RoFR. There are a lot of procedures to be completed for this process. So, I will not be able to comment on the completion or otherwise of this process. It will take some time for us to complete this process.

Q: If you were to go ahead with this deal, if the Malaysia Airports Holdings were to exercise its RoFR etc would you use all of the proceeds to pair down debt, that is the big question? Also are you still in the running for the Philippines Airport?

A: Yes obviously this amount as and when the sale is completed will be used substantially to reduce our corporate debt and also to use the money for the purpose of equity funding of some of our energy projects.

As far as Philippines Airport goes, we can only tell you that whatever we have heard from the public knowledge that we have been declared as the highest bidder. So, we are expecting the award letter anytime this week. Once it is there then we can formally stake a claim on that.

Q: You said that you are still in the RoFR process. How long do you expect before the deal is complete and also earlier you had said that you were looking at a portfolio strategy, not selling stake. So, what changed, is it because of the valuations?

A: Not exactly. This is in consistency with the portfolio strategy. What exactly we mean by portfolio strategy is that when the equity market is not available I can monetize my assets by two or three varieties, by bringing in private equity partners or by going for listing on the stock exchange or by doing an asset sale.

Today the markets are not conducive for equity market. Private equity partners are demanding their pound of flesh. Obviously the way open for GMR company is to go for an asset sale, that is exactly what we have been doing.

Q: As far as the Male Airport goes we understand you have expressed some willingness to return back to the project after the recent elections, is that true? Could you confirm that for us and if so what is the road ahead?

A: We will be interested in having the airport back. Basically we would like to prove ourselves that it was one of the very unlawful termination of our contract. We had a very valid concession awarded to us by the Maldives government. So, we would like to prove that our concession was valid. So, we will be very keen to have it back. As you know the arbitration process is on and we are processing both the methodologies, whatever the government of Maldives chooses and also the arbitration proceedings we will get abided by that.

Q: If I may say so, GMRs global presence in a sense has been veining if you look at exit from Singapore, exit from InterGen, are you perhaps also looking at monetising the assets that you have in Indonesia? Also recently we heard reports about how Laxmi Mittal may actually pick up a stake in Delhi Daredevils, if you can comment on that as well?

A: I will not be able to comment on the rumors. We are looking at a variety of portfolio adjustments and it will include a variety of assets at our disposal. However this does not mean that we are exiting international or anything. We are already in the race for Philippines Airport. What is important is we will have to balance growth as well as our operationalisation of assets. So, whatever is required to this we will continue to adopt that policy.

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'K'taka order won't impact Diageo stakeholding in USL much'

Dec 23, 2013, 07.18 PM IST

Rajat Sethi, Partner, S&R Associates says in terms of overall impact of the deal, it may be negligible given the definitive agreements based on what was disclosed in the market initially when the deal was announced.

Tags  Vijay Mallya, Karnataka High Court, United Spirits, United Breweries Holdings, UB Holdings, Diageo, Rajat Sethi, S&R Associates, Supreme Court

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'K'taka order won't impact Diageo stakeholding in USL much'

Rajat Sethi, Partner, S&R Associates says in terms of overall impact of the deal, it may be negligible given the definitive agreements based on what was disclosed in the market initially when the deal was announced.

Like this story, share it with millions of investors on M3

'K'taka order won't impact Diageo stakeholding in USL much'

Rajat Sethi, Partner, S&R Associates says in terms of overall impact of the deal, it may be negligible given the definitive agreements based on what was disclosed in the market initially when the deal was announced.

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For unsecured creditors, it is a victory and in terms of how they get redressed. It gives them much superior negotiating leverage to get paid back

Rajat Sethi

Partner

S&R Associates

In what came as a huge blow for Vijay Mallya, the Karnataka High Court had on Friday declared the  United Spirits (USL) share sale by  United Breweries Holdings (UBHL) to Diageo void. Admitting the appeal filed by creditors of UBHL, the court also said that the amount deposited by UBHL will remain with the court till winding-up is done.

Also Read: Why BNP Paribas lawyer feels K'taka HC order is correct

Rajat Sethi, Partner, S&R Associates believes the companies concerned will appeal to the Supreme Court. He says for Diageo, post the order, its shareholding in United Spirits can go from 25.02 percent to 18.02 percent. But with the 11 percent held by Indian promoters, together with the 18-odd percent that Diageo will continue to hold, it is still above the 25 percent level. Hence, in terms of overall impact, it maybe negligible.

Below is the verbatim transcript of Rajat Sethi's interview on CNBC-TV18

Q: Outside of the fact that this is a fairly big victory for unsecured creditors which has now become the norm over the last couple of years. The material thing in this for most investors is how it will jeopardize the Diageo deal because Diageo has made no bones about the fact that it wants control. What are your views on where it places Diageo?

A: Diageo had over 25 percent of shares in United Spirits (USL) before this order, so the extent of shareholding, which is impacted by this judgement seems to be around 7 percent. Obviously, there will be appeals to the Supreme Court and one will wait and see what happens in the Supreme Court but in terms of overall impact of the deal, one, there may not be a significant impact given the definitive agreements based on what was disclosed in the market initially when the deal was announced. There are voting agreements in place, which obligate the Indian promoters to vote in accordance with the instructions of Diageo.

So, even if from 25.02 they have gone down to 18.02, as far as the Indian promoters are concerned, they are still holding about 11 percent and together with that 18, they are still above 25 percent level. In addition there maybe other contractual provision which gives them ability to purchase additional shares from the Indian promoter but that will depend on what the exact terms of the definitive agreements are. So, in terms of overall impact, it maybe negligible on the deal itself, it is not that the deal is going to be invalidated but it gives everyone something to think about.

Q: In that case will there have to be new ways which has to be found to compensate these unsecured creditors?

A: Yes, for them it is a victory and in terms of how they get redressed. Obviously it gives them much superior negotiating leverage to get paid back and it would be interesting to have a look at the judgement and see how the court has determined that this constitutes some kind of – that full value has not been realized because the burden of proof would have been on the creditors to show that there is some element of dishonest intent here between the transferor and the transferee. So, it is a high burden of proof and one would wait and see how that burden has been discharged and how the court has been satisfied in this case.

United Spirits stock price

On December 23, 2013, United Spirits closed at Rs 2573.20, down Rs 97.35, or 3.65 percent. The 52-week high of the share was Rs 2815.00 and the 52-week low was Rs 1708.20.

The company's trailing 12-month (TTM) EPS was at Rs 24.01 per share as per the quarter ended September 2013. The stock's price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio was 107.17. The latest book value of the company is Rs 440.83 per share. At current value, the price-to-book value of the company is 5.84.

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DoT to calculate one-time spectrum fee afresh after auction

The Department of Telecom is planning a re-calculation of the one-time spectrum charge, which has been estimated at about Rs 25,000 crore, to be levied on telecom operators after completion of next round of auction.

"We will need to re-calculate it (the one-time spectrum charge) once auctions are completed," a DoT official told PTI.

One spectrum fee is the charge operators have been asked to pay for holding additional spectrum.

Initially, telecom firms were given 4.4 MHz spectrum along with licence for Rs 1,658 crore for pan-India operations. They were entitled to get another 1.8 MHz on fulfilment of certain subscriber-base conditions.

Most of the operators were allocated additional spectrum without paying any upfront charges for it.

In November last year, the government decided that operators should pay for holding spectrum above 6.2 MHz retrospectively, from July 2008 to January 1, 2013 based on market determined price decided in auction.

Besides, for spectrum above 4.4 MHz operators would have to pay for the period between January 2013 and the expiry of licences. The rule applied to CDMA players like Reliance Communications ,  Tata Teleservices for spectrum above 2.5 Mhz.

In the estimates, DoT had included price of spectrum in four cities--Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Rajasthan-- based on reserve price fixed by government as there were no bidders.

DoT had raised demand for about Rs 26,000 crore as one-time spectrum fee. TTSL, however, surrendered additional spectrum under protest in all service area, except Delhi and Mumbai, which brings down the total estimates calculated by DoT. The company has also approached court challenging order on one-time spectrum fee.

DoT issued demand notice to companies in January but no amount has been recovered yet as most of the telecom service providers have challenged the order before courts and the matter is now sub-judice.

GSM operators were asked to pay total of about Rs 23,177 crore and CDMA operators were jointly asked to pay Rs 3,000 crore.

As per demand raised by DoT for GSM airwaves, BSNL will have to pay around Rs 6,912 crore,  Bharti Airtel Rs 5,201 crore, Vodafone Rs 3,599 crore,  MTNL Rs 3,205 crore.

Idea Cellular  Rs 2,113 crore (includes Rs 231.5 crore of Spice), Aircel Rs 1,365 crore (includes Rs 14 crore of Dishnet), Loop Mobile Rs 606 crore and Reliance Communications Rs 173 crore.

Charges for additional CDMA spectrum held by RCom is estimated to be around Rs 1,752 crore and for Tata Teleservices Rs 1,155 crore approximately.

Reliance Comm stock price

On December 20, 2013, Reliance Communications closed at Rs 132.00, up Rs 1.05, or 0.80 percent. The 52-week high of the share was Rs 164.45 and the 52-week low was Rs 50.25.

The company's trailing 12-month (TTM) EPS was at Rs 3.49 per share as per the quarter ended September 2013. The stock's price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio was 37.82. The latest book value of the company is Rs 160.57 per share. At current value, the price-to-book value of the company is 0.82.

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GoAir expects to sustain profitability in FY14: De Roni

Wadia group-promoted budget carrier GoAir today said it expects to sustain profitability in FY'14 because of strong growth in the April-June period and good performance expected in the current quarter.

"We delivered a profit last financial year. The first quarter (of 2013-14 fiscal) was the best in terms of profitability for GoAir. Certainly the second quarter was a challenging one. We are confident to deliver good result for the entire financial year," GoAir chief executive Girgio De Roni said here.

Also read: Air India to join Star Alliance

He was speaking at a function which was part of the 109th birth anniversary celebrations of JRD Tata, jointly organised by Air India and JRD Tata Memorial Trust. "However, the airline will have to deploy all efforts to maintain the bottom-line," De Roni said, adding that the January-March quarter will be the challenging one.

The Mumbai-based carrier, with market share of around 8 per cent, reported profit of Rs 104.34 crore in FY'13, compared with the Rs 133.72-crore loss in the previous year. "The profit was, however, on the back of changes in accounting policies with respect to aircraft lease rentals. We see challenges ahead. And we have to deploy all our efforts to deliver good result," De Roni said.

GoAir had seen a growth of 25 per cent in passenger traffic by November this year by improving its seat capacity. To a question on air fares, De Roni said he did not expect the airlines to cut fares at this stage due to cost-structure. "Honestly, I don't see any chance for the airlines to reduce fares because our cost environment is very unfriendly to the airlines.

We have been witnessing some irrational pricing during Q2 this year. Unfortunately, in India the cost structure is very high due to airport and navigation charges and depreciation of rupee against the dollar," he said. De Roni said the airline was gearing up to fly international. "As a part of our three-year business plan, we will deploy up to 10 per cent of our capacity on the internal routes," he added.

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PepsiCo India to invest over Rs 1,200 cr on new plant in AP

Beverages and snacks major PepsiCo India today said it will invest over Rs 1,200 crore to build a new beverage manufacturing facility in Andhra Pradesh.  The company plans to build a new greenfield beverage manufacturing plant in Sri City, Andhra Pradesh, which upon completion will be PepsiCo's largest beverage plant in India, PepsiCo India said in a statement.

"PepsiCo intends to invest more than Rs 1,200 crore in the project, which is part of the recently announced plans by PepsiCo and its partners to invest Rs 33,000 crore in India by 2020," it added.

Also read: M&M to rev up expansion of multi-brand car service business

The company also announced plans to substantially increase sourcing of mango pulp from Andhra Pradesh in the next six years.  Commenting on the development, PepsiCo India Chairman and CEO D Shivakumar said the new beverage facility is a key part of the company's growth plans for the Indian market and "we are delighted to locate it in Andhra Pradesh".

"Sri City is ideally located and offers the perfect opportunity to harness the benefits of superior connectivity, great infrastructure and an ample talent pool, which are the prerequisites for every industry," he added.

The plant will manufacture a range of beverages, including fruit juice based drinks, carbonated soft drinks and sports drinks. Welcoming PepsiCo's investment in the state, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy said: "The proposed plant will be completed in three phases and once fully operational, the plant will provide direct and indirect employment to over 8,000 people".

PepsiCo Indian already has a beverage manufacturing plant at Sangareddy in Andhra Pradesh. With seven production lines, the plant manufactures and supplies PepsiCo products to the entire Andhra Pradesh region and parts of Karnataka.

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Tesco says India investment based on biz considerations

UK-based retailer Tesco's decision to apply for opening multi-brand retail stores in India in partnership with the Tata's has been based on business considerations and not driven by any "external pressure".

"Since the FDI policy was liberalised, we have reviewed various possibilities and the current proposal is an outcome of these reviews," Tesco CEO Asia Trevor Masters said in a statement.
    
Tesco Plc became the first global retailer to seek the government's approval to set up multi-brand outlets in India with a plan to invest USD 110 million in partnership with the Tata's Trent.

Also read: Expect more global chains in multi-brand retail: Sharma

It has sought permission to acquire 50 percent in Trent's wholly-owned subsidiary Trent Hypermarket Ltd, that runs Star Bazaar stores. Masters further said: "Our decision to progress the applications has been based on business considerations and not driven by any external pressure".

He said that the company is working with Tata Group in India for over five years, supporting the development of their Star Bazaar stores. "We have always said we'd like to get more involved in this exciting market," he added.

In its super market stores, Tesco will sell 14 categories of products. The items to be sold at its stores include tea, coffee, vegetables, fruits, meat, fish, dairy products, wine, liquor, textiles, footwear, furniture,    lectronics and jewellery.

This is the first application for multi-brand retailing since the government allowed 51 percent foreign direct investment in the segment in September last year. It comes two months after Wal-Mart Stores and Bharti Enterprises said they would go their separate ways for retail operations in India.

Tesco proposes to operate stores in India under various banners, including Star Bazaar, Star Daily and Star Market, with the tag line reading, 'A Tata and Tesco Enterprise.'

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Indian mkt needs hostile takeovers: Grant Thornton

The year 2013 was sub-dues for the Indian market from the mergers and acquisition (M&A) point of view says, Harish HV, partner-India Leadership Team, Grant Thornton.

Speaking to CNBC-TV18, Harish says there has been a significant jump in private equity (PE) deals and the interest in outbound deal continues by India Inc.

Also read: Asia-Pacific M&A volume falls for 3rd consecutive year

On what 2014 holds for M&As, Harish says the PEs will continue to invest in Indian market.

"I see private equity continuing to invest capital into India Inc. We hope that there would be some hostile takeovers because that is something Indian market badly needs to ensure good value creation for the shareholders," he adds.

Below is the edited transcript of Harish's interview to CNBC-TV18.

Q: What is the headline that has emerged then?

A: It has been little subdued this year. However, the basic level of activity for the last three years seems to be stablised at around a 1000 transactions. We haven't seen any significant uptick or downtick in terms of numbers of deals.

However, values have dropped significantly potentially reflecting the current economic environment. The big takeaway for this year would be the significant jump in private equity deals which could be surprising for a lot of people given the negative investment horizon, the dip in the rupee and the difficulties private equity have in exiting. They have, however, jumped from about USD 7 billion to almost USD 10 billion over last year.

The average deal size has also gone up looking at interesting transactions including a lot of buy outs. So, that to me is the big headline. The other headline is continued interest in outbound by India Inc. Average deal size is gone up though number of deals in the value has fallen.

Q: You said the average deal size has gone up so what are the key deals that stood out in 2013 and of course some sectors of interest?

A: The key deals are global majors investing into India. We recently read about GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) increasing its stake,  Hindustan Unilever ( HUL ) putting in money and of course Diageo. There have been various others like Oil and Natural Gas Corporation ( ONGC ),  Cipla and lots of cross border deals.

However, we used to see in excess of a dozen USD 1 billion deals in the past but now it is down to about three or four. So, these are some of the big deals. In the private equity, the Barings investment of USD 400 million is probably a deal that stands out in Zensar.

Q: Going in to 2014 what is the outlook for Deal Street?

A: We remain hopeful and hopefully, we will see some growth in the economy and that should bring in a lot more focus on deals. If the business environment improves in India I might see a reduction in outbound deals and an increase in inbound deals.

I see private equity continuing to invest capital into India Inc. We hope that there would be some hostile takeovers because that is something Indian market badly needs to ensure good value creation for the shareholders.

HUL stock price

On December 20, 2013, Hindustan Unilever closed at Rs 567.95, up Rs 13.40, or 2.42 percent. The 52-week high of the share was Rs 725.00 and the 52-week low was Rs 432.25.

The company's trailing 12-month (TTM) EPS was at Rs 16.61 per share as per the quarter ended September 2013. The stock's price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio was 34.19. The latest book value of the company is Rs 12.36 per share. At current value, the price-to-book value of the company is 45.95.

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Will Bala's exit hamper Murthy's revival plan for Infosys?

V Balakrishnan, seen by  Infosys insiders as CEO-in-waiting, Friday became the eighth senior executive to quit the company since founder Narayana Murthy's return in June this year. The development has raised questions about Murthy's ability, and some even say, intent, to fix the problem of senior talent attrition. This is worrying the stock market as it feels the absence of trusted old-timers could hamper Murthy's turnaround plan for the company.

Murthy himself said it would be hard to 'imagine an Infosys without Bala's commitment and passion'.

Also Read: Murthy's return is the best thing for Infy: V Balakrishnan

Balakrishnan, or Bala as he is known to friends and colleagues, headed Infosys's BPO business and the recently acquired consulting firm Lodestone, and has spent 22 years with the company.

The abrupt departure of Bala has surprised the industry and the stock market, especially since he was seen as Murthy's blue-eyed boy.

Bala's elevation as Lodestone chairman immediately after Murthy took charge as Infosys chairman was seen as a signal that Bala was going to be central to Murthy's blue-print to get the company back on track.

And when Ashok Vemuri, the other contender for the CEO spot, quit in August, Bala's eventual rise to the top was 'near certain', as one leading business daily put it.

Given this backdrop, Bala's decision to quit during a crucial phase for the company is all the more baffling.

Some churn in the senior management in Murthy's second innings was only to be expected given the change in power structure, but the pace and the number of exits are beginning to raise eyebrows. Eight exits in six months may not mean much for a company the size of Infosys with its vast pool of talent, but it could certainly impact staff morale and hurt investor perception in the short run.

Infosys shares Friday closed at its life time high of Rs 3352.30, and have gained nearly 47 percent in the last six months. But then, IT shares in general have done well during this period. A combination of weak rupee and recovery in demand improved sentiment for the sector.

It is hard to tell how much of a difference Murthy's return alone has made to the Infosys stock. Sentiment has played a major part, given Murthy's impeccable track record. And a few measures by Murthy, such as shifting focus to the unglamorous bread-and-butter IT outsourcing business and willingness to cut prices did boost revenues in the September quarter. And to be fair to Murthy, Infosys's growth woes will take a few more quarters to be fixed since the company's business model itself is in the midst of a complete overhaul. Murthy had said it would take him at least three years to rebuild the company.

But what is worrying the market is how soon the company will be able to achieve its target if experienced hands continue to jump ship at this rate.

Proxy advisory firm Ican Advisors' Anil Singhvi has been scathing in his attack on Murthy saying that the founder's return to Infosys was not viewed positively within the company and that he (Murthy) has not been able to attract fresh talent.

Senior officials who have quit since June include Basab Pradhan, Global Sales Head, Stephen Pratt, Head of Utilities and Resources for North America, Kartik Jayaraman, Head of Australia BPO sales, Humberto Andrade, BPO Head Latin America, Ashok Vemuri, head of Americas' operations and Sudhir Chaturvedi, Financial Services Head for the Americas.

Before the second quarter numbers were announced, many brokerages had raised the issue of senior level attrition, and at least one US-based brokerage had clearly mentioned it as the differentiating factor for choosing  TCS over Infosys.

The better-than-expected second quarter numbers helped silence critics and also led to many brokerages raising their price targets and earnings estimates for the stock.

Opinion is divided on how much the ongoing exodus could hurt Infosys. IT research firm Offshore Insights feels attrition is not so much of a problem for Infosys as much as getting the company's business model right.

But sentiment could take a knock in the short run, since investors may prefer paying a premium for stocks with better earnings visibility and avoid those with even the slightest doubt of a nasty surprise. Also, Infosys shares are no longer as cheap as they were six months back.

The 47 percent rise in Infosys's share price since June has to be seen in the context of the performance of its rivals during the same period.

And here is how other IT stocks have fared:

Wipro :      68 percent
HCL Tech : 65 percent
TCS:         41 percent
Tech Mah : 91 percent
Mindtree :  86 percent
Hexware:  59 percent

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Higher gas price for RIL good news but unfortunate: Taneja

Narendra Taneja, South Asia Bureau Chief, Upstream, says the CCEA decision to all ow RIL to hike antural gas price is good but at the same time unfortunate because it is accompanied with riders because that shows you don't trust the company or there is a huge trust deficit, which basically is more to do with the differences between various ministries.

It is more important for the government to create an eco-system in the country wherein companies can come and invest and where the companies are given the freedom to concentrate more on exploration, production of gas and not spend their energy on dealing with issue of arbitration or the bank guarantees etc.

The Cabinet today decided to allow  Reliance Industries to almost double the price of natural gas from April provided the firm gave a bank guarantee to cover its liability if gas-hoarding charges are proved.

Excerpts of his interview on CNBC-TV18

Q: This has been an issue that has been going back and forth for so long. Finally it seems like we may be able to move forward?

A: It is good news but at the same time it is unfortunate. When our dependence on imported gas is growing what the government needs to do is to create a kind of environment, an eco-system in the country so that companies can come and invest and companies are given the freedom to concentrate more on exploration, production of gas and not basically compel to spend more than 50 percent of their energy on just dealing with New Delhi – all kind of issues arbitration or the bank guarantees and all that.

Have you seen this kind of thing in any other country in the world, I haven't.

So, I am really surprised. The message you are trying to convey is you don't trust the company or there is a huge trust deficit and that is more to do with the differences between various ministries particularly the ministry of finance and ministry of petroleum and natural gas. I find it a bit unfortunate.

Q: Do you believe that this business of capping prices of gas, the finance ministry has vociferously on three separate occasions made the case for capping of gas prices as far as user industries are concerned. They haven't quantified what that should be. Do you believe as we head towards a more free market economy or more free market price regime that we are actually going to see the government bite the bullet and actually cap prices of gas for user industries?

A: If eventually the policy of the government and these decisions create a new kind of environment so that companies can get what funds they deserve, and they basically are given incentive to produce more, I think then it is good but I would like to wait for further details.

Having said that, it is important that explorer and producers are granted right kind of environment, right kind of climate and right kind of incentives.

Reliance stock price

On December 19, 2013, Reliance Industries closed at Rs 854.55, down Rs 4.1, or 0.48 percent. The 52-week high of the share was Rs 954.80 and the 52-week low was Rs 765.00.

The company's trailing 12-month (TTM) EPS was at Rs 67.88 per share as per the quarter ended September 2013. The stock's price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio was 12.59. The latest book value of the company is Rs 557.05 per share. At current value, the price-to-book value of the company is 1.53.

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RIL gas price hike will help industry more than co: ONGC

Hailing the Government's decision to allow Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) to double the price of natural gas from April 2014 , R S Sharma, former chairman, ONGC, says the move will benefit the industry more than the company itself.

Speaking to CNBC-TV18, Sharma said, "It is a very positive news and getting this before launch of New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP X), I feel this would be very well received by the domestic as well as international investment community in oil and gas."

Sharma says the government's move is logical and practical, keeping in mind the fact that the case was under arbitration and that retrospective recovery from consumers would've been a massive issue.

Below is the edited transcript of Sharma's interview to CNBC-TV18.

Q: It has been going back and forth but finally there seems to be clarity and certainty as far as gas price regime is concerned. It will be interesting to see when the government finally decides to notify the new norms or the new rules but nevertheless big relief for Reliance Industries?

A: I would not say that it's a big relief for Reliance Industries. I would speak on behalf of the industry especially in the interest of increasing domestic production of gas as well as oil. So, it is a very positive news and getting this before launch of New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP X), I feel this would be very well received by the domestic as well as international investment community in oil and gas.

Q: Do you think that the decision by the cabinet not to cap gas prices which was something that was vociferously batted for by the finance ministry is going to lead to trouble as far as the power sector and the fertilizer sector is concerned?

A: That is the issue which the government has to take care. I am talking of the production sharing contract (PSC). Model PSC was approved by the government at the highest level and the actual articulation in that the contractor will have freedom to market gas subject to government approval.

So, this is the precise articulation in the model PSC and that has been the signed PSC. As per that, the implication is that the contractor has the freedom to sell at the market determined price and the government has the decision to allocate whomsoever they want to allocate. The issue of cap was a very negative thing for the industry. Being the industry veteran I would say that was absolutely wrong.

That was reflecting against the credibility of the sovereign government itself. So, why that issue was allowed to assume that much controversy?

Q: This business of actually getting Reliance to submit a bank guarantee to protect the government's interest while the arbitration proceedings continue but allowing Reliance to sell at a higher price come April 1 2014, you believe the most practical and pragmatic approach to take this matter forward?

A: I would say that is a logical and practical approach because when the arbitration is going on – earlier the thinking was that until arbitration is going on we should not allow higher price. The thing is what happens subsequently if they win the arbitration? Who will allow the gas price to be raised with retrospective effect?

Consumer surely will not pay that so where from that will come. So, that was a practical view, allow them the international price. Incase, they lose the arbitration, the government can make the recovery from the contractor. However making recovery from the consumer and there are numerous consumers that would have been practically impossible. So, that is a logical and rational decision. I would support that decision.

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GMR hopeful of bagging Philippines airport project

Infrastructure major GMR today expressed hope of bagging the bid to modernise an important airport in the Philippines, saying its joint venture was the highest qualified bidder for the over USD 325 million contract.

"We are technically the highest qualified and between the first and the second bidder there is only 2.5 per cent difference. We are waiting for their clearances," GMR Group Chairman G M Rao told reporters after meeting Finance Minister P Chidambaram here.

Also read:  IRB Infra emerges preferred bidder in Solapur road project

"We are highest technically qualified as well as the highest bidder. It is a process. It will happen soon," he said when asked how confident he was about winning the bid.  GMR Infrastructure is part of a consortium led by Philippines-based construction company Megawide Construction which submitted a bid of 14.4 billion Philippine pesos or around USD 326 million.

In the bids which opened last week, it defeated Filinvest-CAI consortium that includes Singapore's Changi Airport.

If the GMR consortium qualifies for this bid, it would be its third venture in the global market after Istanbul and Maldives. However, the Maldives project ran into trouble with changing regimes in the country and GMR had to surrender it. Following this, it went into arbitration in Singapore seeking compensation of USD 1.4 billion for the "wrongful termination" of a 25-year contract to develop and operate the Male airport.

Asked by when he expected the arbitration proceedings to culminate, Rao said he expected the final verdict "by May next year." On Indian airport privatisation, he said GMR has participated in both Indian and international projects.

 "We have not yet finalised which Indian airports we are interested in. We will definitely participate in the process of privatisation of Indian airports," he said, adding: "our policy is whenever there is a transparent bid, we will participate."

GMR Infra stock price

On December 18, 2013, GMR Infrastructure closed at Rs 21.45, up Rs 0.10, or 0.47 percent. The 52-week high of the share was Rs 25.00 and the 52-week low was Rs 10.65.

The company's trailing 12-month (TTM) EPS was at Rs 0.12 per share as per the quarter ended September 2013. The stock's price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio was 178.75. The latest book value of the company is Rs 18.46 per share. At current value, the price-to-book value of the company is 1.16.

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Banks not keen to act as insurance brokers

In a move that will make banks directly responsible for the sale of insurance policies, the RBI last month released draft guidelines allowing banks to become insurance brokers. But the guidelines have not spread any cheer.

While the insurance industry was anyways not too hopeful of large private & public sector banks entering the insurance broking segment, now, it seems most banks are not keen.

Commenting on the above, C Jayaram, joint md,  Kotak Mahindra Bank said: "I am not sure if it makes too much of a difference. Even as of today when most banks are allied with one insurance company which is by and large from the same group. So with that sort of structure I am not sure difference it will make whether banks are brokers or not."

Also read: 5 reasons why RBI chose to keep rates unchanged

Further, under this model, banks are likely to see a substantiatial decrease in their premium collections. As corporate agents, banks can earn up to 35 percent of the first-year premium but as brokers they would be entitled to a maximum of 30 percent.

Rajiv Anand, president - retail banking,  Axis Bank said: "There are various issues, there are greater responsibilities as well, there are some caps in terms of commissions etc and the way we need to manage our customers so we are evaluating the broking biz but as it currently stands we will stick with our agency model."

Moreover, on an average, less than 2 percent of a bank's profit comes from selling insurance policies. So if one accounts for the cost involved for banks to set up separate departments and train their staff for insurance broking, it does not seem a viable option.

Kotak Mahindra stock price

On December 18, 2013, Kotak Mahindra Bank closed at Rs 748.40, up Rs 6.35, or 0.86 percent. The 52-week high of the share was Rs 804.00 and the 52-week low was Rs 588.00.

The company's trailing 12-month (TTM) EPS was at Rs 20.20 per share as per the quarter ended September 2013. The stock's price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio was 37.05. The latest book value of the company is Rs 123.00 per share. At current value, the price-to-book value of the company is 6.08.

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FDI in retail inflows surprising; need more clarity: BMR

While Tesco has only announced a USD 110 million investment in India, the move is an interesting one given the current political, economic environments, says Vivek Gupta, partner, BMR Advisors.

Speaking to CNBC-TV18, Gupta says the government, however, needs to clarify on Brownfield and Greenfield investments too.

Also read: Retail FDI cheer: Carrefour likely to foray into India

\\\"All the press releases seem to suggest that they will be investing in the existing Trent Hypermatkets Ltd, which is an exiting company which already operates 16 stores. I wonder therefore whether this is truly Greenfield or whether the government will permit some sort of Brownfield acquisition of stake in the existing retail businesses," adds Gupta.

Below is the edited transcript of the interview to CNBC-TV18.

Q: Are you surprised, the mood seems to have swung to the fact that atleast till the elections are over we are not really going to see any big ticket investments coming in atleast as far as multi-brand retail is concerned. Several meetings, several rounds of consultations finally Tesco makes up its mind and Carrefour may infact follow, are you surprised?

A: It is an interesting move. I don't think the government was really expecting it. Given the current dynamics of both political and economic environment, it is interesting that someone should foray into this sector with all the dichotomy in the guidelines and so on and so forth.

However, it is a small step that Tesco has taken today by announcing a USD 110 million investment. So, it is not as if they are laying out billions of dollars to start with, although it is very positive for the government and very positive for India as such.

Q: What could have changed because we have heard from companies like Tesco in the past, they had issues with the sourcing requirements, they had issues with produce and what could actually classify as being sourceable products, what do you think has really changed for somebody like Tesco to finally knock on the governments doors and knock on the FIPBs doors?

A: Government was pretty clear last time around. The government said they have done what they had to do. They had a September 2012 policy, they had some clarifications therein on. The government was very interactive with all these retail players but the government seems to have indicated last time that they have drawn a line.

One thing that I do find interesting about this proposal though is that all the press releases seem to suggest that they will be investing in the existing Trent Hypermatkets Ltd, which is an exiting company which already operates 16 stores. I wonder therefore whether this is truly Greenfield or whether the government will permit some sort of Brownfield acquisition of stake in the existing retail businesses. So, that part to me is a little bit unclear.

The government would have thought through this and before putting in the application this discussion would have happened with the government.

Q: Do you think a clarification on Brownfield investments is perhaps in the offing. Ofcourse it may have been informally discussed but given the way that this transaction has been outlined do you believe that there is a clarification likely as far as Brownfield investments are concerned?

A: Potentially, yes. The reason being that the original September 2012 policy which is the policy that went through Parliament and through the challenge in the Supreme Court also infact carried no restriction on Brownfield investment.

It is only when the government came out with its FAQs in June or July of 2013 that they inserted a sentence – a vague sentence to say that front-end retail stores must also be setup as an additionallity and not through acquisition of existing stores.

That sort of indicated that all so-called conversations that were happening between the Future Group and possible retailers etc would not have to come to a standstill because Brownfield investment would not be permitted.

The fact that this press release both from Tesco and from Trent is fairly clear that there will be an investment in the existing companies and therefore some stake will be taken up in the existing 16 stores seems to suggest that the government has moved on this.

I do believe that the government has the leeway to move on this because the so called Brownfield restriction really comes only from a FAQ kind of clarification that the government issued not from the original policy. So, the government perhaps has that leeway.

Q: Do you believe now that the road is in that sense clear for Carrefour and Kishore Biyani to move forward?

A: I would not go so far as to say that. Let us wait and watch. The press release very nicely says that we will keep you posted on the status of the application. So, let's see how this application goes. Let the government apply its mind little bit on this and also the logic of that one sentence that they had in their FAQ and then let's see what happens.

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'The Datsun Go' booking by early 2014: John Kullu

John Kullu, General Manager - Marketing, Datsun said they plan to start booking of their low cost brand 'The Datsun Go' by early 2014 and the February auto expo would be an appropriate time to start marketing and sales activity.

Excerpts of his interview on CNBC-TV18

Q: When do you plan to start booking of The Datsun Go?

A: We are looking at early 2014 where we start the booking period and the start of sales. One of the opportunity ofcourse is the Auto Expo, which has very wide coverage. So, around that point of time we may start our marketing and sales activity.

Q: Nissan has started selling its cars online through an individual Nissan online portal. Will you look at selling The Datsun Go also through this particular portal?

A: Opportunity exists. It is a very important platform especially for the younger audience.

Q: Given that you are looking at leveraging your existing dealer partnership with Nissan are you afraid or is the Nissan management afraid that it might end up cannibalizing on sales of the Nissan Micra which is at a price band which is slightly above the Datsun Go?

A: Even if there is a price cannibalisation we leave that choice to the customer.

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India to be base for Hitachi's construction equipment biz

Japan's engineering and electronics major Hitachi would expand its construction machinery and power electronics products business in Africa, Middle East and South East Asia by making India a base for these segments.

The group, which plans to invest 70 billion Yen (Rs 4,700 crore) by the financial year 2015-16, would bolster the businesses supported by production for consumption in India by increasing localisation component, said Hitachi Executive Vice President and Executive Officer Junzo Nakajima.

"We would strengthen the partnership with the local India partners and as a part of that, human resource pool of the India would be utilised for that," said Nakajima. Hitachi is expanding its Ahmedabad based Hitachi Hi-Rel Power Electronic Ltd, which produces industrial power electronics.

Also read: Nokia expands devices range, launches Lumia 1520 at Rs 47k

Moreover, the company is starting a new factory for power metallurgy and friction materials by Hitachi Chemical at Neemrana in Rajasthan. In Neemrana, Hitachi is also setting up its first solar power generation unit in India.

"We would have new R&D centre in Bangalore for construction machinery," he said, adding that Hitachi would also open a automotive device manufacturing facility in Chennai and the construction for this has been started. "Keeping these bases in India, we would like to expand our business in Africa, Middle East and South East Asia," Nakajima said here during a press meet at Hitachi Social Innovation Forum. Hitachi has so far invested approximately 35 billion Yen (Rs 2,300 crore) in India. The group has recently acquired ATM services provider

Prizm Payment Service. The company is looking to expand its footprint in the Indian IT sector through acquisitions. "We would like to do more acquisitions like we have done in case of Prism. If you look at IT-related other acquisitions, in 2011 also we had acquired Hyderabad based Sierra Atlantic," he said adding that the group would continue to look at more such opportunities.

Moreover, Hitachi India Managing Director Ichiro Iino said the company would in January 2014 bid for the railway signalling systems of the Delhi-Mumbai section of the Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) project.

He further informed that Hitachi was seriously looking at an opportunity to supply nuclear power plants in India. It has a JV with US-based GE for its nuclear power business called as GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy.

On Hitachi's growth in India this financial year, Iino said: "We expect the Hitachi India's revenue for financial year 2013 to grow in double digits." In FY 2012-13, Hitachi's 59 percent revenues came from Japan and 41 percent from overseas. India's contribution was around 1 percent. Hitachi is now aiming at least 50 percent revenue to come from overseas by FY 2015-16 and to increase, India's share up to 3 percent.

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Walmart gets CCI nod to buy Bharti's stake in Indian JV

Global retail giant Walmart has got fair trade regulator CCI's green signal for purchase of Bharti group's almost 50 percent stake in their Indian joint venture for wholesale stores business.

The JV, Bharti Wal-Mart Private Ltd, was set up to operate wholesale stores under the Best Price Modern Wholesale brand and it presently owns 19 such wholesale cash and carry stores across India. It was not catering directly to retail consumers in the country.

Also read: Wal-Mart names Krish Iyer as India head

In an order released today, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) said the proposed buyout of Bharti group's stake in the JV by Walmart "is not likely to have appreciable adverse effect on competition in India and therefore, the Commission hereby approves the proposed" deal.

After deciding to part ways in October, Bharti group and Walmart approached the CCI last month seeking approval for the deal wherein the US-based global retail giant would acquire the stake held by the Sunil Mittal-led business conglomerate in the venture.

Earlier this month, the CCI had asked Walmart and Bharti Ventures Limited (BVL) to "remove certain defects and provide" certain additional details for the approval.

The split between the two groups involves two inter-connected and inter-dependent transactions with respect to their businesses. The first is the acquisition of 50 percent minus 515 equity shares of Bharti Wal-Mart Private from BVL and Cedar Support Services Ltd.

The remaining shares are already held by Walmart and the purchase of additional shares would take its total holding in Bharti Wal-Mart Private to 100 percent.

The second transaction involves the acquisition of 45.58 crore compulsorily convertible debentures (CCDs) of Cedar by BVL from Wal-Mart Mauritius Holdings.

BVL presently holds 100 percent of Cedar's equity and after the transaction, the Bharti group would own a 100 percent stake in Cedar without any CCD holding by Walmart.

After looking into various aspects of the deal, the CCI said, "Presently, the parties to the proposed combination are not competing with each other in the markets for wholesale, retail or real estate services."

"...It is observed that the proposed combination would not result in the elimination of any competition from the markets for the wholesale, retail or the real estate services.

"...It is also observed, from the notice and other documents on record, that wholesale, retail or real estate sectors in India are characterised by the presence of a large number of players and the market share of the parties to the combination in these businesses is also negligible," CCI said.

BVL is an investment holding company of the Bharti group, while Cedar is a wholly owned subsidiary of BVL and provides real estate consultancy services. Bharti Retail, a wholly owned subsidiary of Cedar, is in the retail business and operates stores under the 'Easyday' brand.

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Frauds to the tune of Rs 2cr in SKS Microfinance in FY2013

SKS Microfinance  witnessed financial frauds to the tune of Rs 2.1 crore during FY 2013 and is taking a slew of measures to prevent its employees from indulging in such offences.

Investigations are in progress and services of employees involved in the fraud have been terminated and the company is in the process of taking legal action, according to the company's latest annual report.

"We (auditors) have been informed that during the year there were instances of cash embezzlements in the company aggregating Rs 1,27,62,403; loans given to non-existent borrowers on the basis of fictitious documentation created by the employees of the company aggregating Rs 83,32,870 and misappropriation of cash by an external party, amounting to Rs 4,55,000," company auditors S R Batliboi and Co said in their comments.

Responding to the auditors' comments, SKS said cash embezzlement is 0.04 per cent of disbursement during the year and to mitigate this risk to a large extent the management has put in place several preventive control measures.

SKS' action plan includes procuring indemnity bond from every field staff, with personal guarantee of a third person, besides ensuring that every bank transaction (deposit/ withdrawal) to be executed by a minimum of two employees, comprising a bank signatory and a confirmed staff, the company has informed.

The net impact of frauds comes to around 0.06 percent (vis-a-vis 0.51 percent over last year) of the total amount disbursed by the company during FY13.

"Company is working towards further reducing this percentage by making process improvements, obtaining adequate insurance cover and by increasing engagements and opportunities for direct contact with members," the only listed micro-lender said.

During the year under review, it has recovered an amount of Rs 1.4 crore against a fraud amount written off in previous years, SKS said.

To prevent risk of loans to non-existent borrowers/ fictitious borrowers, SKS said it ensures that all loans disbursed pass through a checker control system, wherein loans processed by a 'sangam manager' are first approved by a branch manager or an assistant branch manager.

During FY 2012, some of the employees of SKS had swindled Rs 15.8 crore of company's money by way of fraudulent methods.

The auditors of the firm had then reported that they were informed that cash embezzlement by employees stood at 2.5 crore and loans given to non-existent borrowers were Rs 13.3 crore.
 

SKS Microfin stock price

On December 13, 2013, SKS Microfinance closed at Rs 170.20, down Rs 6.45, or 3.65 percent. The 52-week high of the share was Rs 198.90 and the 52-week low was Rs 95.60.

The company's trailing 12-month (TTM) EPS was at Rs 2.33 per share as per the quarter ended September 2013. The stock's price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio was 73.05. The latest book value of the company is Rs 36.08 per share. At current value, the price-to-book value of the company is 4.72.

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